NO CELL PHONE RULE

This post is dedicated to Chris Cooper, the man without a phone. Also just the man in general.

As a society we are really cracking down on where cell phones can be used, they are no longer allowed at work, school, or while driving-probably a good idea really. However they are utilized nearly everywhere else, I will admit that I am quite liberal with my use, not as bad as some but worse than others. Prior to ranting I will admit that I occasionally break this rule, but when I do I have my usual internal berating and am rather unhappy with myself. This is kind of how the conversation goes,
Moral ME - Really? I am disgusted
Guilty ME - But it was just a second and I
Moral ME - Disgusted go wait in the car
Guilty ME - But I Just needed to..
Moral ME- Car
Guilty ME - OK

What am I referring to? Cell Phone use in the gym. Nothing irritates me more than people who bring their phones into the gym and text between sets or water breaks in a class. This is right up there with the magazine on the treadmill and Sudoku puzzle riding the bike. Very few people are so important that they need their cell phone for the 1.5 hours that workout will occupy. Yes, there are extenuating circumstances but on the whole there is absolutely no reason not to leave your cell phone in the car/change room. Having a cell phone in the gym prevents you from entering the correct mindset, it constantly pulls you away from the now and into somewhere less important. Your Mom, Boyfriend, Wife can all wait. It is your time treat it as such.

The gym and your workout should be something pure, an opportunity to remove the manacles of modern society and live in the moment. Let your senses drink it it, the sweet smell of sweat, the acidic taste in your throat, the feel of work in your hands, the sounds of heavy breathing and grunts. As a kid I read a lot of fantasy novels and still do,  I always felt that a black smith must have one of the most rewarding jobs. For me the shop held this magic. It is where a smith execute his craft; the smells, tastes, sounds all combined together as he toils away. I can always feel the heat, see the strain as a chunk of useless metal is forged into something beautiful. Beads of sweat and blood mixed together to create a masterpiece, whatever it may be. The smith is not distracted by common comings and goings but rather focused solely on his task until it is completed, because he knows that if not he will have to redo that step of the process.

Be that blacksmith, let the gym be your forge, your goal is that chunk of iron that is slowly (one workout at a time) being hammered into a masterpiece. Revel in your environment and deal with the phone later, after the important stuff is finished.

Confusing Cross Country Complex

This is a post for the parents/coaches/trainers (who have happened to stumble upon this nest of awesomeness) that feel the need to tell their athletes to start running cross country in preparation for the upcoming season.

The average Joe(if someone can tell me why it is Joe versus another name I would like to know, I am sure I could Google it but it is easier to accept whatever someone else tells me without doing my own research.) has very little knowledge on body physiology and its modes of operation, this quite alright. I personally have no knowledge on how the stock market works or how to predict when stock will rise or fall. For that reason I would not tell anyone where to invest their money; except in me, you can take that to the bank. However, many parents feel the need to tell their kids how to train for their sport without any knowledge on how the body works.


That leads me to my title, parents, cross county running IS NOT THE ANSWER to your kids athletic woes. To quote Mike Boyle, "Want to make your kid suck at everything (sports) for the rest of their life? Put them in Cross Country!"  I cannot count the number of times I have heard a parent tell me, that they told their kid to start jogging 30-40 minutes in preparation for the upcoming season, (basketball, hockey, football, lacrosse, volleyball, wrestling, etc.) Then say, "You're in kin. that's good, right?" Short answer is NO. Before the avid runners string me out over a 10 km chase and trounce me when my hamstrings cramp allow me to elaborate, 1.) I have no problem with running, if you enjoy it then by all means run. It is an aerobic activity with some positive side effects, lower resting heart rate, increased O2 uptake, endorphin release etc. 2.) If you are going to be truly competitive in an endurance race then yes, I believe you need to run to see how your body handles the demands.

However, if we examine sport demands and body physiology, steady state aerobic conditioning for nearly all sports is close to useless in my opinion. Cross country running is a steady state exercise, meaning that your heart rate is constant and oxygen intake is equal to oxygen demand. This sort of state is replicated in very few sports. In order to understand why this type of training is not beneficial we need to first examine the body's energy systems. Simplified we have 3 systems from which we can access energy. The first two systems are oxygen-independent and will produce energy for up to 2 minutes, well within the playing time of nearly all sports before a recovery break is given.

Below is a chart displaying the energy systems and the duration of each, naming is slightly outdated.

There are very few sports that will 'tap in' to the aerobic system excluding an endurance event such as marathon, 1 500 M, etc. If this energy system will not be drawn on then why should we concentrate our training on it? The average football snap lasts 4-6 seconds, 9 seconds is a very long play with 40 seconds of recovery. A hockey shift is 45- 50 seconds then triple that in recovery.Wrestling is 3, 2 minute periods during which the body is required to perform multiple explosive movements linearly and laterally with short rest in between. None of these sports have steady state heart rate's or O2 consumption and as a result should NOT be trained through that method.

The second reason is type of muscle fibers development. Fast/Slow Twitch is a term that gets tossed around quite a bit. To overly simplify the concept muscle fibers can be either Type I -slow contracting, slow fatiguing, Type -II fast contracting, fast fatiguing, or transitional - containing both types of fiber. Type II can be further divided into IIA-utilized for fast, repetitive, low intensity movement and are recruited following Type I; and IIX-recruited for high intensity, high power movements. Evidence exists that FT is the default setting for muscle fibers and that specific training can cause fibers to take the properties/become the type required for the task. IE.) Explosive training can cause a shift in ST fibers to a FT orientation. What does this all mean? It means that if your athlete is training steady state, ST fibers will develop and FT fibers will begin to take on ST characteristics. This also means that when the rebound comes off the backboard in a 2 point game the shoelaces aren't leaving the ground. It means that your volleyball player doesn't make that match point block, or your wrestler isn't scoring the third period blast double.

The prescription of steady state training is employed most often out of lack of knowledge and I hope that this helps educate, if it saves even one athlete from detrimental training then I have done my job.If aerobic training is to be done it should come from interval type training, where the specificity of the drill can be altered based on rest time. Lower work to rest ratio (1:1, 1:2, 1:3) will lead to aerobic training where as higher ratios (1:5, 1:6, 1:7) will target the anaerobic systems. Intervals can mirror the sports work to rest demands allowing the body to adapt as increasing anaerobic and aerobic capabilities. So next time you are prescribing a training regime for your son/daughter/friend keep in mind that cross country running is not King. Coach V


Coach - Is anyone here allergic? Yes, No? Is anyone here allergic to hard work? If you are get back in your car and drive home. Let me know how mediocrity tastes. Everyone else come with me.

Learning from the Big Guy

As I enter the blog culture I feel it is appropriate that I am standing at a kitchen counter writing this while my pasta is cooking. I have my power writing stance and am ready to go.. The topic for this entry is learning from the big guy it is not really a tip or concept but rather my most recent observation. In the common day weight room to much emphasis is placed on how much WEIGHT is on the bar and as a result technique and form take a back seat. It is great is you squat 300 but all you weight being on your toes, your knees knocking together and that 1 1/2 inch of depth does not impress me. Even in gyms where the idea of functional training is common place too many athletes add inappropriate weight. The worst culprits are usually the big guys 200+ they don't want to be viewed as weak or see smaller athletes lifting more weight. However, I was able to watch a couple really big guys, (227 and 218 respectably) hit lifts with their egos in the change room. Both are struggling from shoulder issues and extremely weak lower/mid trap. They had been focusing on correcting this and neither was embarrassed that the 1 1/4lbs magnetic plate was as heavy as they were going to get to lift today. At the same time I looked across the room and one of the smaller hockey players was murdering his reps with dumbbells 15 lbs too heavy. So my lesson is learn from the big guys if they are able to leave their ego in the change room and hit lifts technically sound you can to, you aren't building any strength cheating yourself and when that strength gets called on in a real situation the tank is going to show E . If you do all the little things right the weight will come. Coach V.

We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility - Tagore

Welcome

As this is my first foray into the world of blogging I will apologize for any errors that I may commit in the process both grammatical and political. I hope to use this to entertain and enlighten as well as dump thoughts that are swirling around in my head. I personally subscribe to many different blogs and love reading others opinions and trying to incorporate their thoughts (whether I agree or not) into my life. I will attempt to keep this centered on Strength and Conditioning/ Sport related topics but I am sure it will divulge into the other interests in my life occasionally...Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Wrestling and any other random act that occurs. Stay tuned for the next entry